


Take a Bow

by ashamedbliss



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Muse
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, M/M, Vigilante, dominant dom, muscled dom, nerdy matt, superhero, these tags i'm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-01
Updated: 2014-05-01
Packaged: 2018-01-21 13:25:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1552058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashamedbliss/pseuds/ashamedbliss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dominic Howard, billionaire and ex-playboy has just returned from a five year stint on a mysterious island. Matthew is his IT assistant who starts getting some very strange requests...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I basically lifted Matt and Dom (with added Chris) from Muse, and dropped them in the places of Felicity, Oliver and Diggle respectively. No spoilers past the end of Season 1 (if even then). Matt's Felicity is very much early-Season 1, so there's really no spoilers at all. Purposefully written with non-Arrow fans in mind, but this might interest some Arrow fans!
> 
> I've deviated slightly from canon. Not much, but just a smidge, as to the reveal and everything. I just didn't want to just copypaste. Enjoy!

Matthew pushes his glasses up, tongue sticking out of his mouth as he concentrates on a particularly tricky bit of code. He blindly reaches for his can of Pepsi, a skill he mastered so long ago that he doesn’t even have to guess where it is.

As he slurps on his drink, he sits back a little in his chair, looking out over the city skyline for a bit of eye relief. He has to admit, his job has its perks. For example, his swanky modern office at the headquarters of Howard Consolidated. Also, the fact that he was doing something he absolutely adored, as the head of the IT department. Not to mention the brief glimpses he’ll catch of his boss’ son, a certain Dominic Howard...

Dominic Howard, former playboy who mysteriously disappeared five years ago. They’d thought he was dead; Matthew even remembers watching the news that night, and all of the coverage the Howard family got afterwards. Five years. They’d given up hope, until suddenly he was found a few months ago. He rocked up in Starling City once more with such grandeur that it was hard for people not to know he was back. Matthew appreciated it, definitely seeing as he’d somehow got even more handsome on that island than he had been. Matthew hadn’t thought it possible.

Matthew allows himself a quick smile, then looks back at the lines upon lines of code on his screen. He knows it’s stupid to think of Dominic like that. He’s a billionaire, for Christ’s sake. He’d hardly go after some nerdy, weedy IT technician, especially when he’s so ripped himself...

“Shut up,” Matthew whispers to himself, before returning to the task at hand.

~

It’s late evening on a nondescript Tuesday, and Matthew is still sat at his desk. The department is currently halfway through an upgrade of some of the company servers, and a few of them are playing havoc with the system. Matthew’s stomach grumbles but he ignores it as he continues working, illuminated just by the light from his desk lamp.

Someone knocks at his door softly, and his head whips up. “Matthew?”

There, in all his glory, stands Dominic Howard with an easy grin on his face. Matthew remembers to breathe. “That’s me,” he says, pulling his hands on his lap and nervously playing with his fingers. _He’s here. In my office._

“Can I ask you a favour?” Dominic asks, entering the office and shutting the door behind him. He approaches the desk as Matthew nods, perhaps a bit too eagerly. “I found this memory stick plugged into my sister’s computer, I was wondering if maybe you could take a look at it?”

Matthew’s brow furrows, but he smiles anyway. “Yes, of course. I don’t see the problem in that.” He reaches for the stick and tries not to shiver as their fingers brushed. He plugs it into his computer, and immediately a password box comes up. “So... do you know the password?”

Dominic sucks in a breath through his teeth, walking around the desk to see the screen. “Sadly, no,” he says on the exhale, leaning against Matthew’s desk, his breath tickling the back of his neck. Or maybe Matthew imagines that. “Can you get in?”

“It’s invading her privacy a bit. I mean. If I’m allowed to say that,” Matthew says, turning around to look at Dominic and _holy crap he’s close_. “I’m probably not allowed to say that. Please don’t fire me,” he mumbles weakly, turning back to his computer and quickly bringing up a program he hadn’t used in quite a while. “But, yes, I should be able to get in... there. I got in through the back end... Well I don’t mean...” Matthew sighs. “Just look, there. See?”

Dominic blinks at the screen, which to him resembles something from the Matrix. Matthew smirks a little at his confused expression, as he clicks through the files on the memory stick.

“Maps, weapons invoices, police reports... Mister Howard, I don’t think this belongs to your sister,” Matthew says, before he turns to see Dominic glaring at him. “Oh, yep, paid to do, not think, gotcha,” he stutters as he turns back to the screen, ejecting the device safely and putting it into Dominic’s expectant palm. “Is this illegal? Am I going to get arrested? Because I’m an only child and it would _really_ break my mum’s heart to see me in prison.”

“Matthew?”

“Yessir,” Matthew replies instantly, looking up at Dominic standing in the doorway. He hadn’t even noticed he’d moved.

“Thank you,” he says, flashing him that smile again. Matthew fiddles with the knot of his tie as he tries not to let his face split in half with a dumb grin. “And please, call me Dominic.”

Matthew nods eagerly once more, before the blond leaves the room, the door shutting quietly behind him.

~

_“Starling City’s vigilante has struck again.”_

Matthew normally works with Starling City News playing in a tab on his computer, as he likes the background noise and it’s not as distracting for him as music is. However, his ears prick up at the mention of the Hood. This is the first news of him in a week, whereas sometimes he is mentioned every day.

_“Last night three men were arrested in connection to an arms deal, with two more found dead at the scene after the Hood had taken them down with his trademark bow and arrow. Sources believe that if the deal had taken place, hundreds of illegal and highly powerful assault rifles would’ve been on the streets of the Glades within the week.”_

Matthew raises his eyebrows. Didn’t Dominic bring him a USB with files about weapons on it? He shakes his head. _Don’t be stupid._

_“Starling City Police Department wishes to remind citizens that the Hood remains highly dangerous and should not be approached.”_

Matthew mutes the audio, deciding he actually prefers the silence.

~

The second time Dominic Howard visits Matthew Bellamy’s office, it’s with a can of Pepsi in his hand. Matthew smiles, reminding himself not to say anything dumb like he did the first time which was now a few weeks ago. He quite enjoyed exchanging words with the blond, even though he was thousands of millions of miles out of his league. Even _if_ Dominic was gay, he still wouldn’t have a chance.

“You sure know the way to a man’s heart,” Matthew says as a way of greeting, before shutting his eyes and pulling a face. “Oh God, I really need to work on my brain to mouth filter.”

To his surprise, Dominic laughs. Matthew opens his eyes again and can’t help the warmth flooding his chest at the sight of true laughter from Dominic Howard. He’d seemed so moody since his return from the island, and it was nice to see him smiling for once. Dominic hands Matthew the can, which he places on his empty coaster. “I know you’re not just here to give me a can of Pepsi, appreciated as it is,” Matthew says with a smile.

Dominic hands Matthew a small vial of a bright green liquid. “Could you run this through a mass spectrometer for me?”

Matthew holds the vial up, watching the liquid shift around in the tube. “I’m not a scientist. I could be a scientist for you though, if you’d like...” Matthew says without thinking about what, exactly, he is saying. “I mean... I’ve got a friend who works at some research labs. I could ask him to put it through, or something... I can’t be much more help than that though, I’m afraid.”

He looks up to Dominic for approval. “That would work,” he says, before leaning closer. “But your friend gets those results, you get me a copy, and he destroys the originals. None of his colleagues must know about this, do you understand?”

The look on Dominic’s face is dark, and Matthew doesn’t quite like the secrecy that clouds his words, but he finds himself nodding anyway. _Idiot_. “Of course,” he says, before putting the little vial down on his desk. “I’ll speak to him. We studied together at uni,” he says with a small smile on his face; whether he’s trying to hide his nerves or is smiling at the memory, he can’t quite decide.

Dominic cocks his head. “Which uni?” he asks. He’s never taken an interest in Matthew’s life before, and his stomach does a flip as he blushes.

“Cambridge. I studied Computer Science while Tom studied Chemistry,” he says, looking up at Dominic. He smiles and nods to himself, before turning away to the door.

“Bring them to my office as soon as you get them, Matthew,” he says on his way out.

“Yes sir, I mean, Dominic, I mean...”

The door of his office shuts.

“Fuck.”

~

Matthew pushes his glasses up, a nervous habit he’s adopted over the years as he walks through the maze of offices on one of the top floors of the building, far above where his own little office is. Here, all the seats are leather and the offices are much more spacious. He clutches the brown file closer to his chest as he rounds the corner to Dominic Howard’s office.

“Come in!” the man shouts, and Matthew hurries to enter, before practically pressing himself back up against the door. A deadly combination of butterflies in his stomach over Dominic, and a feeling of being entirely out of his depth roots him to the spot. Dominic smiles up at him from his Macbook. The geek in Matthew rolls his eyes, he should’ve predicted that.

“Are those the results?” Dominic asks with a hint of eagerness in his voice.

Matthew lifts his heavy feet and begins to walk towards the grand desk in the centre of the room. “Yep. Tom promised me that he deleted all the data after making this copy. Except, y’know, he couldn’t actually _do_ anything with his data, as all I know is that it was just given to me under some quite bizarre circumstances...” Dominic glares up at Matthew, who manages a sheepish smile.

Flicking through the folder, Dominic hums at a few of the diagrams and tables as Matthew fiddles with a pen in his hands, anything to keep his nerves in check. Pulling a face, Dominic reaches for his iPhone, calling one of his speed dial contacts and fixing Matthew with a look so he didn’t shy away.

“Chris,” Dominic says. “I’m looking at the results for the sample... yeah. It’s Vertigo plus something else,” he says as he looks up at Matthew. “Meet me there at the usual time,” he finishes before hanging up.

“Vertigo?” Matthew asks. “Isn’t that the drug that was... wait, isn’t that the drug your sister took?” Dominic looks at him silently, with a blank face. Matthew worries that he won’t ever see that laughing, smiling Dominic again. “I’m happy to help you, Mister How-- Dom. I really enjoy helping, you know, it’s nice to have a challenge every once in a while, seeing as there’s not really much happening in the IT department, apart from--“ Matthew laughs, “--that time when Jenny managed to spill coffee in the server room and--”

“Matthew,” Dominic says in a cautionary tone, and Matthew clears his throat as he pushes up his glasses.

“I just mean... these tasks are a bit strange, is all,” he finishes meekly, fiddling with the pen in his hands once more. He looks back up, and a small smile sits on Dominic’s lips.

“I appreciate what you’re doing for me,” Dominic says tightly, and even though Matthew’s sure that he’s choosing his words carefully, he doesn’t say it out loud (for once). He simply smiles.

“Anytime,” he says, before leaving the office. As the door shuts behind him, he allows a sigh to escape his lungs, as if all his worries have cleared off his shoulders. He adjusts his tie, pushes his thick-rimmed glasses up and runs a hand through his brown hair before he begins to make his way back down to his own office.

However, he walks straight into the company executive officer, Dominic’s step-father Jacques Dupont.

“Hello sir,” Matthew giggles nervously, dying of sheer embarrassment on the inside, as he tries to evaporate into thin air. When that doesn’t work, and when he hears his name being called, he’s absolutely sure he died on the spot and is now seeing his short, pitiful life flash before his eyes.

“Matthew!” Jacques says, and Matthew turns around to face the man. He can see why Dominic’s mother married him after all, and although he didn’t quite share Dominic’s good looks he did have that lovely French accent...

“Yes?” he squeaks in reply, nearly snapping the pen in his hands in half. He puts it in his pocket.

“I’d like a word, if you can spare a minute.”

 _Uh oh_. “Yes, sir, of course.”

Matthew silently follows the tall man to his office, worries creeping through his veins faster and faster with each passing second. As Jacques shuts the door behind him and sits down at his desk, Matthew says the first thing he can think of.

“I didn’t mean to steal the stapler,” he says, not noticing Jacque’s quirked eyebrow at the admission. “It was really late and I was tired, I just put everything in my backpack and I didn’t realise until I got home, and then I only brought it back a week later and--”

“Matthew, I’m not firing you,” Jacques says with confusion in his tone. Matthew sighs with relief.

“Good, okay, that’s good. Sorry, I’ll shut up,” Matthew says, mimicking zipping his lips and throwing away the key. _And you wonder why you don’t have a boyfriend yet, you twat._

Jacques holds a small notebook in his hands. “I’d like you to research this for me,” he says, flicking through the pages before handing it to Matthew. Matthew does the same, and they’re all blank, save for a logo on the very first page. He’s never seen it before.

“I’ll try my hardest,” Matthew says with a small smile, deciding to not risk asking questions like he would with Dominic. This is more of a puzzle than his requests from Dominic, anyway, and he hopes to see the results himself. Jacques gestures that he can leave.

“Oh, but Matthew?” Jacques calls. The man in question turns back. “Don’t tell anyone about this.”

The smile is wiped from Matthew’s face. He has a funny feeling that secrecy is linked to bad things, although he doesn’t quite know _what_ bad things. He nods and heads back down to his office, the notebook held tightly in his hands.


	2. Chapter 2

Matthew spends the rest of the day tinkering with an infuriating new piece of software that simply refuses to co-operate. He groans, putting his forehead down on his desk for a few moments, enjoying the feeling of the cool surface against his skin. He sits up, reaching for his Pepsi.

“Matthew! I--“

Matthew yelps, his precise aim knocked as he sends his drink flying across the desk, Pepsi spilling all over Jacques’ notebook and threatening his electronics. “No, no no,” Matthew shouts, jumping out of his seat and hurriedly picking up the can, before pushing his keyboard and monitor out of the way. Such items were replaceable as opposed to the computer tower itself (sitting safely below the desk), but he _really_ couldn’t afford the high-spec accessories like these right now.

Dominic returns with paper towels in his hands, and Matthew thanks him repeatedly as they clean up the mess together, Dominic apologising over and over. With the mess cleared, Matthew casts a sad glance at the notebook, picking the sodden thing up between his index finger and thumb.

“Whose is that?” Dominic says, and Matthew hears the accusation in his voice. He can’t lie. He’s always struggled with lying, even if it was just stealing a digestive from the biscuit tin as a child.

“It belongs to your step-dad,” Matthew says, biting his lip and feeling quite uncomfortable. “I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone,” he says quietly as he opens the book. His eyes widen.

The pages have turned brown from being soaked with the cola, yet handwriting had appeared in the middle of it all, seemingly invisible when the pages had been clear. “It’s written with wax,” Matthew whispers to himself. Dominic crosses the room to look over his shoulder, seeing the list of the names on each page as Matthew excitedly flips through them.

“Why did Jacques give you this?” Dominic asks. Matthew turns to him, again nearly losing his train of thought with the man of his dreams at such close proximity.

“I don’t know,” Matthew says, sitting down at his now-dry desk and tabbing to Google. “But some of these names are familiar...” He tries the first five in quick succession, Dominic’s eyes struggling to keep up with the ever-changing screen. “They’re all businessmen, most of them rich, they-- oh God.”

Matthew turns to Dominic, frightened. “These are the people the Hood has killed.”

Dominic scoffs. Matthew shoots him a look. “This is important!” he says, grabbing the book and shaking it at Dominic. “What if the vigilante has this list, and is targeting people? We need to give it to the police, this could save lives!”

Dominic takes the book from Matthew’s hands. “I think you’re being paranoid,” Dominic says. “Anyway, how do we know this? You don’t even know where Jacques got this from. He could be the Hood himself,” Dominic says, and he has the audacity to wink. Matthew rolls his eyes in irritation, even though at any other time that would’ve set his heart thudding. “Starling City Police Department have enough on their plates, don’t add this little notebook to it.”

Dejected, Matthew closes a news report on the vigilante. The city had been quietly deteriorating until a vigilante (dubbed by some as some kind of superhero) had started taking crime into his own hands a few months ago. Armed with a bow and arrow, he’d killed some men and triggered the arrests of dozens, but he’d also saved people too. And, personally, Matthew clung onto that hope, that his city could be saved.

“Fine,” he says, before he turns back to Dominic. “So, had you come to rescue me from suffering a Pepsi related death or did you have something you wanted me to look at? Because I can look at it if you want... I don’t mean, like _that_ , I... Please say something.”

“I was going to ask actually... would you like to go to dinner with me?”

Matthew’s eyes nearly bug out of his head “Me?!”

“I don’t see anyone else in the room,” Dominic laughs, and Matthew giggles at the joke. “I want to thank you for getting the results for that vial. And for keeping quiet about it. That was really helpful, for me,” Dominic says, and his smile grows. Matthew’s quite sure his heart stops beating for a moment or two. He blinks and clears his throat.

“Yes, of course,” Matthew says. “That would be great.” _Perfect wonderful amazing better than all of my dreams combined--_

“Meet me outside Big Belly Burger at, say... eight?” Dominic suggests, checking his watch (which Matthew is quite sure is worth more than his flat).

He smirks. “Big Belly Burger? And here I was thinking you were one for snazzy bars and pricey restaurants,” he jokes.

Dominic smiles. “Can’t beat a good burger though. Is that alright with you?”

Matthew nods. “Fine with me. I’ll see you there,” he says with a smile. Dominic smiles, looking down at his feet for a moment before turning to leave. _Did he just blush? I’m sure he blushed. Maybe it was wind. It looks like a blush though. But does the great Dominic Howard ever blush? Maybe in bed perhaps..._

Matthew shakes those thoughts out of his head, the notebook forgotten at his side, and tries his hardest to do some work, even as thoughts of Dominic Howard skitter through his consciousness.

~

A few hours later, Matthew is walking through the Glades, the sketchiest neighbourhood in the city, towards his flat. He figures losing the tie will make him look a bit more appropriate for going to a burger joint, and he considers maybe putting contacts in for once, before deciding against it.

He doesn’t notice the three men creeping up behind him.

The first makes a grab for his laptop bag, but Matthew manages to keep a firm grip. He shouts, but is shoved back down onto the ground by another of the men, a snarling growl heard from him. Matthew sees the glint of a knife and panics, the laptop bag now ripped from his hands. Matthew throws his hands over his face as he lies on his back, whimpering.

“Look at this little faggot,” one of them croons, and Matthew realises belatedly that his glasses are no longer on his face. He is grabbed by his shirt and hauled upwards. “You gonna suck my cock, homo?”

“Leave him alone.”

Matthew’s heart stops in his chest. He’s never heard the voice before in his life, but he knows exactly who it belongs to. His head whips around to see the Hood, standing at the end of the alley and silhouetted against the bright street behind, bow raised.

_Thank you._

The Hood doesn’t give them time to run, before he shoots three quick arrows in succession. Two of the men are hit in the shoulders and go down with a scream. The man who had insulted Matthew, however, is shot through the heart, slumping unceremoniously at Matthew’s feet.

Shakily, Matthew lets out a nervous whine as he gets to his feet. He can’t see more than a few inches from his face without his glasses, and feels quite blind. Blind and absolutely petrified.

“Are you okay?”

Matthew looks up towards the voice, and can see the Hood standing before him, his face shrouded in darkness, but can’t make out any details. He seems quite close though, and Matthew tries to calm his breathing back down. “I think so,” he says, panting a little. “I lost my glasses. I can’t see... you... you _killed_ those people,” he stutters, shock beginning to set in.

“They were on my list,” is the simple reply. “Are you hurt?” the Hood asks in that deep, almost robotic voice of his. Matthew nods shakily, words now failing him. “Here. Go home.”

In one hand he is given his laptop bag back, and in the other, his glasses. By the time he has them on and blinks the world into focus, the Hood is gone. Matthew hurries out of the alleyway and straight to his flat.

What he fails to notice, though, is that Jacques’ notebook is missing from his bag.

~

Half an hour later, a rather dishevelled looking Matthew stumbles through the doors of Big Belly Burger to find Dominic sitting at a table by the window.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Matthew rushes to say, hauling himself up into one of the quite tall bar stools. Dominic waves away his apologies with a flick of his wrist.

“It’s fine, I got held up,” he says, and Matthew wonders if he’s missing out on a joke. He tries to calm his breathing down, which he’s been failing to do since the attempted mugging. “Hey, what happened to you?” Dominic asks, concern plain on his face. The sympathetic looks aren’t doing much help for his heart rate, either.

“I tried taking a back alley in the Glades. First time in my life I ever did so. Turns out that’s a bad idea!” Matthew tries to joke, but it doesn’t sound quite right with his nervous laugh. He fiddles with the menu on the table.

“Look, you cut your hand,” Dominic says, and before he realises it Dominic’s touching him, actually touching him, his fingers ghosting over the small wound near knuckles, perhaps from where he’d not quite caught himself as he’d fallen to the floor. The touch feels so good though, and Matthew’s eyes flutter closed for a moment.

“I hadn’t even noticed,” he says quietly, before meeting Dominic’s eyes, unable to read the expression there. “The Hood saved me, though. I don’t get it,” Matthew says, shrugging a shoulder as he glances over the menu. He feels shaken up and a thousand shades of nervous in Dominic’s presence, and when he looks up into Dominic’s eyes they genuinely are grey storms; he’s not being the poetic sap he often is. Although he’d never tell Dominic that himself. Even the thought makes his stomach lurch.

“What do you mean?” Dominic asks, eyebrows knitted together.

Matthew sighs. “Y’know. He could’ve killed me, he seems to do that a lot. But he saved me. He’s only ever saved high profile people before, billionaires and lawyers. Why me?”

Dominic smirks, sitting up a little as the waitress then arrives to take their order for drinks, a beer for them both. She slinks away again, and Dominic has that look on his face. Matthew thinks it’s adorable but doesn’t say anything for once, to his credit.

“Maybe the Hood likes you,” Dominic says eventually, sipping on his beer as it’s placed in front of him. Matthew barks out a laugh, nudging his glasses up his nose, and Dominic shoots him a confused look.

“Please. He’s probably chasing up pretty blonde damsels in distress,” Matthew laughs, and this time it’s genuine. He doesn’t see the flicker of hurt that crosses Dominic’s face. “Not me, a needy nerd who probably should take self defence classes, or maybe bulk up a bit. I mean, look at you, you’re ripped, I mean, I--”

Matthew blushes into his beer as he quickly picks it up and takes a large gulp. He’s normally more of a wine man but he can deal with beer every once in a while, especially now that he needs an excuse for all the dumb things spewing from his mouth.

Dominic laughs. “Yeah, there’s not much else to do on an island other than work out.”

Matthew hums in agreement. As they order their burgers, Matthew thinks of what exactly one could do if they were stranded on an island for five whole years. Build a shelter maybe? That wouldn’t take too long though. Hunting, washing, all daily activites he presumed. Working out would be a good way to pass the time. He wondered if Dominic ever got lonely. Maybe he got lonely enough that he would--

Matthew blinks himself out of that thought but it’s too late, the image of a sweaty Dominic Howard with his hand down his trousers is burned into the back of his eyelids.

_It’s going to be a long night._


	3. Chapter 3

Burgers consumed and the dregs of Matthew’s second beer in the glass before him, the night begins to draw to a close. Matthew feels slightly buzzed, and Dominic is laughing at all his dumb jokes from internet forums, even though the blond only had the one beer himself. Most of the other patrons have cleared out now, and at some point during the last hour or two, Dominic had scooted his chair around the table a little, closer to Matthew.

“Fuck, it’s late,” Matthew says, looking at his watch. “Shit, sorry, I don’t normally swear. Bollocks I did it again,” he mutters, Dominic laughing loudly at his side, slapping Matthew’s back softly, leaving his hand there for maybe a moment too long before it falls to his side again. “You know, I’ve had a really nice time,” Matthew says as Dominic pulls out the money to pay. “Oh no, I can split, please--”

“My treat, Matthew. Honestly,” Dominic says as he slides off his seat and Matthew does the same, the both of them shrugging back into their jackets. Dominic is wearing a leather jacket, something Matthew wouldn’t have pegged him for but instantly loves as soon as the garment is on him. The air is biting outside, and Matthew finds himself craving the warmth of Dominic’s side, resigning himself to the fact that he’ll never know quite how warm it is.

“I had a really nice time too,” Dominic says sincerely, their eyes meeting. Matthew blushes, hiding the movement by pushing his glasses up. “It’s nice to actually have some friends who aren’t complete airheads full of money.”

Friends. Matthew sighs inwardly, that word follows him around too often. “You used to be like that too,” he quips, Dominic laughing and seeming to be completely oblivious of Matthew’s disappointment.

_Get a grip. This was never going to be a date._

“Well, I should get going. Work tomorrow and all,” Matthew says, waving goodbye awkwardly before turning down the street. Dominic catches the crook of his elbow.

“Wait, are you walking home? In the Glades? At this hour?” Dominic asks, eyebrows to his hairline.

“Some of us aren’t rich enough to afford cars, let alone personal drivers,” Matthew jokes with no menace at all.

Dominic smiles. “Good thing I have one then.” He pulls out his iPhone, speed-dialling a number. “Chris. Can you pick us up, outside Big Belly Burger?” Dominic pauses for a moment, glancing towards Matthew. “I’ll explain later. Okay.” Putting the phone down, he gestures with wide arms to Matthew. “He’s been waiting just around the corner. Look, there he is.”

A sleek BMW of some kind or the other rolls up. Dominic opens the door and gestures for Matthew to get in, who blushes in the darkness as he scoots across to make room for Dominic. They sit for a minute in silence, Matthew, Dominic and the driver, Chris, before Matthew realises they’re waiting for his address.

“Oh, sorry. It’s the flats on the crossroads between Spencer and Queens,” he says, and the car pulls away from the curb.

“That’s like, borderline Glades,” Dominic remarks.

“Oh, please. That side of the road isn’t the Glades and I pride myself on that fact,” Matthew says, and Dominic laughs. Matthew sees Dominic and his driver meet eyes via the rear view mirror, but he says nothing. “It’s really not that far. I could’ve walked.”

“No, you couldn’t,” Dominic says lowly, and that puts an end to that. Matthew’s breath hitches at the very tone of Dominic’s voice, then wonders how on earth he’ll ever get through simply seeing his boss at work ever again.

He had no idea that was going to change, though.

The car pulls up outside his block of flats, and as Matthew turns to say goodbye, Dominic announces that he’ll walk him up. “Just to make sure you’re safe,” Dominic reasons, but his belly flips nonetheless. Matthew buzzes in through the front door, then leads them up two flights of stairs to his corridor. It smells slightly damp and one of the lights flickers, but Matthew calls it home.

“Here I am,” he says, unlocking the door and crossing the threshold, flicking on one of the lights. “I mean, it’s kind of tiny, and the view’s a bit shitty, but...” Through the open curtains, the wide window opened up to look across a rooftop, a few stray pieces of litter on the flat terrace. “It serves its purpose. Are you coming in?” Matthew asks, looking back at Dominic and adjusting his glasses. “I mean, not like I’m implying anything, I just... God, I really shouldn’t drink beer,” he says, hanging his head a little and blushing.

“You’re cute when you blush.”

Matthew’s head whips up to see Dominic smiling at him. Opening his mouth to speak, he finds no words come out. He wants to cross the room and pull Dominic through the doorway and--

“Goodnight, Matthew,” Dominic says, waving one hand and turning away, walking back down the corridor. Matthew bites his lip, wanting to call him back, but figuring he’d already dug himself enough of a hole. Instead, he simply shut the door and locked the two locks, falling back against it.

“Fuck.”

~

Matthew wakes up at about 2am, the kind of awake where you’re conscious of some noises but not fully awake. He thinks he hears sirens, which really isn’t all that much of a deal when you live on the outskirts of the Glades, but there seems to be a lot of them. He smacks his lips and rolls over, trying to fall asleep again.

That is, until his window is shattered.

He sits bolt upright in bed, scrabbling for his glasses. Once they’re on, he can see the curtains now flapping in the breeze and letting a shaft of orange light fall to the floorboards. There, in the middle of his flat, is the Hood.

“What the fuck,” Matthew says, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes quickly as he stood from the bed, clad in just his boxers and glasses. “What the hell are you doing here?!” he says to the vigilante. He can’t believe his luck. First the guy saves him, now he’s probably back to kill him like he should’ve in the first place. Matthew grabs the hockey stick from under his bed, the one he’s always kept there in anticipation of burglars, and raises it high above his head. “Don’t you even dare,” he growls, surprised at how deep his voice is with the sleep in it.

The Hood stands up to Matthew, and Matthew knows he wouldn’t be the first to make the swing. Instead, he reaches up and pulls down the hood.

The hockey stick clatters to the floor.

“Dominic,” Matthew gasps.

The ringing of sirens draws closer, and Matthew can hear shouting in the building. He throws his arms out in the universal gesture of _what the fuck_ as Dominic begins to move around the flat, the glass crunching under his boots. “I got trapped, I fucked up,” he began to say quickly, pacing to and fro, looking out of the window briefly before ducking his head back in. “They’re chasing me, I got lured into a trap. I need to hide, I need your help Matthew.”

“Strip naked.”

“What?!” Dominic asks, swirling to see Matthew hurriedly turning to his bed, kicking the hockey stick back under it and then tugging at the duvet. He looks up from his work with a frown on his face.

“I said, strip naked. Get out of the costume.” He’s surprised at how rationally he’s thinking, all things considered. Dominic hurriedly unzips the jacket, throwing it across to Matthew who stuffs it under the bed, right at the back where it meets the wall. They could hear the police teams crashing through the building, searching all of the flats. “Trousers too.”

“I’m not wearing anything underneath.”

“Dominic.”

“Alright, alright,” Dominic answers petulantly to Matthew’s demands, tugging off the boots and finally the trousers, and there he is: Dominic Howard, stark naked in his flat, in the exact opposite way of anything Matthew had ever imagined.

“Go wash the paint off your face,” Matthew says, tucking all of the clothes under the bed and making the duvet look reasonably dishevelled. He grabs a pair of clean boxers, throwing them at Dominic in the bathroom, who was throwing water on his face, dark green streaks across his skin. Matthew gingerly steps around the broken glass to unlock his front door, opening it wide and light spilling in. The police are on his corridor now, and Matthew takes a deep breath.

“Police! Open--”

Matthew turns to the police officer standing at his door, a team of men behind him with their guns trained on Matthew. He raises his hands, an innocent look on his face.

“He came in through my window, look,” he says, gesturing to the glass. “Then he went out that way, down the corridor,” Matthew then explains, pointing out of his doorway. The police officer - Matthew recognises him from some of the television reports about the Hood - steps into the flat for a moment, Matthew letting him. He surveys the glass, looking to and from Matthew and the rumpled bed, then looking at the locks on the door.

“There’s no forced entry or exit. Are you lying to me?”

“No sir,” Matthew says, “I had a, er, late night visitor.”

Dominic, having heard the conversation, saunters back into the room in Matthew’s boxers, throwing a casual arm over Matthew’s shoulders as he stares down the police officer. “Evening gents,” he says, and Matthew’s stomach is rolling because Dominic is pressed all the way along his side, and it's just as warm as he'd hoped.

He’s pretty sure he’s dreaming right now.

“Mister Howard. I knew you’d be involved,” the police officer sneers. It seems to Matthew that they’ve had some clashes in the past. “You should stay away from him,” he says to Matthew, before he ushers his team out and down the corridor again, leaving Matthew to shut the door behind them and shroud his flat in darkness once more.

“So, I hope that’s not all over tomorrow’s tabloids,” Matthew says, Dominic laughing in response as he sits down heavily at the end of the bed, flexing his left arm a little and rubbing at his shoulder.

“I have enough dirt on him that he wouldn’t dare,” Dominic says, and Matthew daren’t ask what kind of dirt that is. The enormity of the situation crashes down upon him, and he sits down at the end of his bed too, almost but not quite touching Dominic’s knee with his own.

“But seriously? You as the Hood? I mean, I should’ve guessed with all those stupid tasks you were asking me about.”

“Hey, they weren’t stupid,” Dominic says with a little smile on his face. “You helped put away some bad guys. I appreciate it.”

“And you saved me, tonight. I appreciate that, too,” Matthew says, finding himself blushing in the darkness. Dominic nudges him with his elbow, and he looks up.

“You’re important to me. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Matthew feels the air leave his lungs, and he doesn’t quite know how to respond to that.

“I’ll pay for the window,” Dominic says as he stands up, bending down to retrieve his stuff from under the bed. “I’m really sorry about that. But that excuse, that was fantastic. Bloody clever.”

Matthew smiles broadly, and Dominic returns it, bundling his clothes to his chest. “Least I could do, I guess,” he shrugs, pushing his glasses up.

“I have one more favour to ask of you. Can I borrow some clothes, please? The place is swarming outside, I can’t go back out in this outfit,” he says, lifting the bundle of his costume up slightly. Matthew’s smile falters a little.

“You could always, y’know, stay the night, if you wanted. To complete the full alibi, I guess,” Matthew laughs, and Dominic smiles at him, but when he doesn’t move Matthew begins to get up and gather the clothes.

“Thank you, but no, not tonight. I need to let Chris know I got out of that safe,” Dominic explains, and Matthew throws him a glance over his shoulder.

“I should’ve guessed Chris would be in on it,” Matthew says, before tossing Dominic a hoodie and a pair of jeans. “I hope they fit. Are flip flops okay, or something?”

“Flip flops are fine, I hardly doubt I’ll get papped,” Dominic laughs. “Cheers,” he says, dropping his bundle on the bed to get dressed. Matthew puts his costume into a small rucksack and zips it up. Fully dressed again in a hoodie, jeans and bright green flip flops, with the rucksack slung over his shoulder, he pulls the hood up over his face. Matthew laughs at him, before Dominic realises what he’s done, pulling it back down again.

“You know, Matt, you should think about joining my team. Y’know, a bit more permanently.”

Matthew gawps. “Are you serious?” His question is met with a smirk from Dominic, who turns and walks to the door.

“Just think about it,” he says, as he opens the door and waits on the threshold for Matthew to catch up. “Fighting crime, saving the city, spending more time with me. What more could you want?”

Dominic winks and turns away, and for the second time that night Matthew is left standing at his door, breathless.


	4. Chapter 4

A few days later, and his window is fixed, with his flat returned to its normal level of just acceptable tidiness. Matthew is waiting outside his block of flats where Chris will pick him up, according to Dominic’s text. Yes, they were _texting_ now. And Dominic even ends his texts with a kiss. Matthew wonders about which word of the phrase _professional_ _relationship_ they are tilting towards when the black BMW pulls up before him. Chris leans across and opens the front door and Matthew climbs inside.

“Matthew, right?” the driver says, and Matthew shakes his hand. “Call me Chris.”

“Call me Matt,” Matthew says, as he buckles up, the car pulling away from the curb. “So you’re Dom’s bodyguard during the day, but you moonlight as what exactly?”

Chris laughs a warm belly laugh, and he instantly strikes Matthew as the kind of guy who gets along with everyone. “A bit of extra support, really. I do some technical stuff, but it’ll be much easier with you joining our team. Plus I’m the weapons guy, and I can call in some military favours.”

“Military?” Matthew asks, genuinely intrigued. Chris nods, eyes on the road.

“A dozen or so years in the infantry, a couple of tours of Afghanistan. Medically discharged after I was shot in the shoulder and they could never take out all the shrapnel. So, of course, I went into personal security,” he says, pausing as he manoeuvres through some particularly dense traffic. Matthew notes they’re heading to the heart of the Glades. “Landed the job as Dominic’s bodyguard. He was avoiding me for the first few weeks or so until, well, the rest is history I guess,” he laughs.

“Wait, you were _shot_?!” Matthew asks incredulously and Chris continues to laugh.

“Yep. Wicked scar.”

“Wow,” Matthew whispers as the car pulls up outside Verdant, the nightclub Dominic had opened shortly after arriving back to Starling City. “Is Dom meeting us for midday cocktails or something?” Matthew asks as they get out of the car, smirking alongside Chris.

“Not quite. Follow me.”

Chris locks the car and leads him down the side of the club, through a fire escape into the main room, avoiding the main entrance. There are a few people milling around, but mostly bar staff restocking ready for the evening. Chris leads him to an area under the stairs, punching a code into a hidden panel and pushing a heavy door open.

Matthew quietly creeps down the metal stairs behind Chris, into a large, mostly dark room. He can hear grunting from the far end of the room, where a few shafts of stray sunlight fall. Chris flicks on some lights, and Matthew hears the heavy, industrial buzz of them before the room is illuminated.

It’s like every secret superhero lair that he’s ever dreamed of.

Matthew quickly darts over to the three screen wide computer set-up, crouching down to look at some of the hardware, some of which even his IT budget wouldn’t be able to afford for the company. He whips around, seeing the Hood’s costume elaborately displayed on a mannequin in a glass case. He sees a row of arrows lined up neatly, almost wanting to touch them then thinking again. Finally his eyes alight on perhaps the most valuable object in the room, the Hood’s prized bow. Matthew looks up to Chris, who shrugs. Gingerly, Matthew picks it up, finding that it weighs a lot less than he expected it to.

“Don’t even think about drawing that bow,” a voice rings out, and Matthew nearly drops the bloody thing. His eyes follow the voice to find Dominic suspended perhaps ten feet in the air, doing pull ups on a bar, grunting with each one. Matthew had been so distracted by all the gadgetry he hadn’t even sought out the source of the noise.

Oh, and Dominic is topless, of course. Matthew swallows dryly, able to see a few sporadic tattoos across Dominic’s sweaty chest that he hadn't noticed in the darkness of his flat. Dominic drops down to the floor, quickly striding across the room to gently take the bow from Matthew’s hands. “Dry firing ruins it. I’ll teach you one day, if you want.”

Matthew breathes in the heady scent of Dominic’s sweat as he leans across him, placing the bow back on its stand. “Sure,” he says, before he rakes his eyes over Dominic’s chest quickly. What was meant to be a brief glance at his (wonderfully defined) abs soon turned into something else entirely. “Dominic, you’re...”

His skin was littered with scars, some of which looks like knife wounds and some like burns. Matthew wanted nothing more, in that moment, than to spread his fingers across them.

Dominic turns abruptly, grabbing a t-shirt off one of the iron girders of the huge basement. “Where are those scars from?” Matthew asks.

“The island,” Dominic says in a way that means that the conversation is closed. He smiles broadly, then, but it looks a little fake on his face. “Welcome to the Foundry,” he says, spreading his arms wide. “This is our little base. I hope it’s all up to your expectations,” he says, gesturing to the seat in front of the computers. Matthew slides into it, allowing himself to settle in amongst the technology, where he belongs.

“Oh God,” Matthew says, eyebrows knitting together as he pushes his glasses up. “What is this? This program is entirely out of date,” he mutters to himself, before pulling up the system properties. “This hurts my _soul_ ,” he says dramatically, and Chris laughs from the back of the room. “This needs a huge amount of work. You should count your lucky stars I even accepted to be on your team,” Matthew says, the sarcasm in his voice not undetected.

Unknown to him, Dominic and Chris share a glance across the room. They knew they’d chosen the right guy for the job.

~

Matthew pushes his glasses up his nose before he reaches for his can of Pepsi, happily realising that there’s more in it than he’d thought there would be. It’s late at night and he’s still working on the system, days after he was first inducted to the ‘team’. Matthew smiles at that word. He’d never really been part of a team before, except that one time he was picked for football at school, but he got tackled a lot.

In retrospect, a lot of the people tackling him were on his own team.

Glancing at the clock, Matthew finishes his can of Pepsi and throws it in the bin, deciding to call it a night. He powers down the system, so very near completion but a few of the final touches require him to have a clear head, something he doesn’t have after a whole day spent looking at screens. He grabs his coat and makes his way up the metal stairs, switching the lights off as he leaves and pulling the door shut behind him.

Of course as it’s late at night, Verdant is in full swing, the nightclub full of people and the music far too loud for Matthew’s tastes. With Dominic attending some fancy function or the other at his mansion, with Chris near him at all times, Matthew had had the night to himself.

Sadly, nothing much had developed between them over the last few days. Dominic had been doing lots of pull ups, though. Matthew appreciated that, at least.

Exiting the nightclub, Matthew pulls his jacket tighter around him in the cold. He doesn’t even notice the men behind him, or the van idling a few paces in front of him. He hardly even feels the sharp blow to his head as his world goes black.

~

Matthew comes to in a basement. He blinks into harsh light and immediately tries to move, only to find his arms bound to his sides, and he himself tied to a large pipe. He tries to kick his feet out, but they’re tied too, and as he tries to open his mouth to scream he finds that that’s been taped over.

Pretty thorough, then.

A woman walks into the room, clad head to toe in leather. She shakes her big, auburn hair out behind her, and Matthew realises that she’s absolutely stunning. If only she wasn’t, you know, holding him hostage, and if only he wasn’t, you know, gay.

“Hello Matthew,” she says in a soft American accent. “I hear you’re a friend of Dominic’s.”

Matthew finds himself nodding dumbly, because he can’t do anything else. He glances around the room, trying to take it all in. Large pipes, some steam being released into vents. Definitely a basement. The woman puts her left hand on her hip, the right hidden behind her back.

“Well. I’m a friend of Dominic’s too. A very, very old friend,” she drawls, and Matthew watches with wide eyes. It’s almost as if she’s performing for him, as if she’s had this planned for a long time. “But he betrayed me. Do you know where he is?”

Matthew shakes his head vigorously, even though he knows exactly where Dominic is, unless he decided to go on a spontaneous vigilante adventure. Matthew, now that he’s in on the secret, has learnt that Dominic spends the best part of his working day sneaking off to fight bad guys. The woman steps forward and rips the tape from Matthew’s mouth, pain flaring across his face. He hears a noise, and realises it’s himself, crying out.

“Tell me,” she orders.

“I don’t know!” Matthew shrieks in an embarrassingly high pitch. “I don’t know,” he lies, protecting Dominic the only way he can. He may not be strong, or good with weapons, or even all that brave, but he’s bloody loyal.

The woman moves, and within a flash, the point of a sword is pressed up against the top of Matthew’s neck.

“Do you know what this is, Matthew?” she purrs. “This is a foil. Not just any foil, though. This one is made of titanium, which means it only needs a little bit of pressure to be applied...” she presses upwards slightly and Matthew feels the blood dribble down his neck. “For me to be able to slice you from head to toe. So. Tell me where Dominic is.”

“I really don’t know,” he whimpers, screwing his eyes shut and anticipating death. When she sighs lightly, he cracks them open again. She lowers the sword and turns behind her, turning on a light that illuminates a huge crate fixed with a timer.

A bomb.

“Do you know where we are, Matthew? Don’t answer that,” she says, throwing her head back with a false laugh. “You couldn’t even tell me something you actually know. We are currently under the children’s hospital, Matthew. Yes. This is a bomb.”

Matthew’s eyes dart all over the wires, the electronics. He watches the timer tick down from 5:04 to 5:03 to 5:02 as he analyses it all. It looks like a simple timer, he presumes. The woman stands in front of him again, breaking his line of sight with the bomb.

“I don’t really care if you tell me where Dominic is or not. I know where he lives, I know where he works. I’ll check there anyway. I just thought _you_ might’ve been a bit more helpful. Fucking loyal boyfriends. If you don’t tell me, I leave you here to explode, along with all the poor children in the ten stories above us.”

She smiles a wicked smile and opens her mouth to say something else, just as Matthew’s phone begins to ring in his pocket, a Queen song singing out in the room. Matthew winces as a grin spreads across the woman’s face. She retrieves it from his pocket deftly, answering the call and putting it on loudspeaker.

“Matthew? Did you get home okay?”

The woman balances the phone in her left hand and her sword in the other, pressing it against Matthew’s neck again. He doesn’t dare cry out for Dominic.

“Hello, Dominic,” she drawls, smirking up at Matthew as she twisted the sword just a little.

“Inferno,” Dominic says lowly, concern replaced instantly with hatred. “Why are you with Matthew?” he asks, although it isn’t really a question. Even down the line, Matthew can hear Dominic grinding his teeth together.

“Oh, you know,” she says with a flirtatious giggle. “I wanted to see your new friends, hang out a bit. I was back in town, I’d missed you.”

“Last time you _missed_ me it was with a swing of your broadsword,” Dominic replied flatly. “Your problem is with me. Don’t you _dare_ hurt Matthew.”

Inferno pouts, shaking her orange hair back over her shoulder. “But baby, that’s the fun of it!” Instantly, she moves the sword away from Matthew’s neck and to just below his collarbone, thrusting forward. The point of the blade sinks deep into Matthew’s flesh, and he screams out as she twists it.

“Inferno!” Dominic shouts down the line, and Matthew pants as she withdraws the blade with a laugh. He feels like he’s about to faint. He hates blood. “You and me, face to face. Leave him alone.”

“Come find me,” she laughs, and disconnects the call, throwing Matthew’s phone to the floor. She raises the sword again, this time to Matthew’s heart. “Your poor boyfriend doesn’t love you enough,” she imitates with heavy sarcasm, before laughing and drawing the sword back to put power behind her arm. “This was fun. We should try it again sometime,” she says, and Matthew simply hangs his head.

The lights shut off, plunging the room into darkness aside from the faint red glow of the clock on the bomb. 3:28. Matthew hears the sword clatter to the floor and tries to see through the pitch black, to no avail.

Matthew hears the stretch of the bow and the thrum of the arrow hitting its target. He smiles at those familiar sounds; he’s being rescued again.

One of the lights flickers back on, and before him is Dominic, clad in his vigilante costume (with leather trousers that leave little to the imagination) in close quarter combat with Inferno. Some of Dominic’s punches land and he takes some as well, although Matthew struggles to keep up with all the movements. Dominic jumps up onto some shelves at the side of the room, aiming an arrow for Inferno’s hand as she reaches for her sword again. She drops it with a cry, not before Dominic sends an arrow straight into her shoulder blade.

She collapses onto the floor and Dominic jumps down to stand over her, hands shaking towards him as she cries out once more and then goes limp. Matthew looks to Dominic, hoping he didn’t just kill a woman before his eyes.

Dominic, seemingly reading his mind, shakes his head. “Tranquiliser,” he says as he steps across the room to Matthew, using the point of one of his sharpened arrows to cut through the restraints around his body. “She’ll wake up just as she’s being arrested,” he says, stepping back as Matthew is freed, the brunet rubbing his arms a little and immediately pushes his glasses up with his good arm.

“That’s a bomb,” Matthew says quite dumbly, not even worried about the still-bleeding wound in his shoulder. He steps up to the console, where the timer reads 1:04.

“Of course it’s a bomb. Inferno wasn’t called that just for her hair,” Dominic says quickly, climbing up on top of the crate to open it. “Packed with explosives. Like, a fuck tonne. She could take down this whole hospital.”

“This is a really simple timer,” Matthew says, looking up at Dominic for encouragement. “I mean, I’m not an expert but I used to play with wiring like this at university, I might be able to at least freeze the timer, but I don’t know if I can--”

“I trust you,” Dominic says suddenly and with enough conviction to convince Matthew to do it.

“Please work,” Matthew whispers to himself as he fingers the different cables, trying to locate the right one. He glances at the timer and instantly regrets it. “Fuck. Please,” he prays, before he shuts his eyes and yanks his chosen cable hard.

Silence.

Matthew opens his eyes to see the timer frozen on 0:03, and to find the explosives still in one piece. “Ha!” he says, dropping the cable as he steps back from it, a grin spreading across his face.

Dominic leaps down from the box with a shout of joy, standing at Matthew’s side. “You did it!” he says, taking Matthew’s head between his gloved hands. “You saved us, and the kids, and--”

Dominic takes them both by surprise as he pulls Matthew forward and kisses him hard. Matthew whines in shock as Dominic’s mouth grins against his own, and he convinces himself to relax because how long has he been wanting this for now?

Just as he gets used to the sensation of being kissed, though, Dominic releases him, his grinning face inches from his own. “You beautiful, clever bastard!” Dominic shouts, and Matthew bursts out laughing. The shuddering action reminds him of his shoulder, though, and he winces in pain. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he wheezes, slowly falling to sit on the floor, Dominic reaching for him. “She got my shoulder.”

Dominic pokes at the bloodstained fabric around the wound, before shouting fills the room. “Shit. I gotta run. I’ll drop round later,” he says, and Matthew barely has time to acknowledge that before Dominic is gone from his sight.

He hardly believes that the last five minutes even happened, really.

Police swarm the room and one is bending over to check if Matthew’s okay, whereas the others are scooping up a drowsy Inferno and instantly putting her in handcuffs. The last thing Matthew sees before he blacks out from the pain is her bright orange hair disappearing into the darkness.

~

Matthew decides that he really, _really_ likes pain meds.

He stands topless in front of his bathroom mirror, admiring the blemish in his reflection, the stitches that will surely become a scar. He thinks of the scars on Dominic’s chest, and how they look a bit like art, and how they both have scars now. He touches it. It doesn’t even hurt. He giggles.

He touches his lips, where he can still feel Dominic’s kiss, even though he’s really tired and not entirely convinced that he didn’t make it up. Someone knocks at his door and Matthew wonders who it could be. The nurse in the hospital had said something about resting and he was really tired, maybe he should just ignore the knocking and go to bed.

He opens the door and stares blankly at Dominic, blinking once or twice. “Hi,” he says, before he giggles. Dominic smiles, rolling his eyes slightly.

“Just how many times did you ask for pain relief?” Dominic says, taking Matthew by the shoulders and steering him back into his flat, kicking the door shut behind him.

“Squillions,” Matthew says before he giggles again. “The doctor was so cute. He looked like you, except his ears weren’t so big,” Matthew honestly says, trying to reach up to flick Dominic’s ear but he ducks away. “Oh,” Matthew says loudly.

Dominic sits Matthew down on his bed, lifting the covers and helping Matthew get in. “I haven’t fed the cat,” Matthew mumbles with a smile on his face as he leans back on the pillows. Dominic knows Matthew doesn’t have a cat and simply smiles as he tucks Matthew in, taking his glasses off gently and putting them aside. “We’ve ran out of cheese.”

“Good night, Matthew,” Dominic says clearly, realising that all the things he wanted to say about the kiss and saving Matthew weren’t going to be said tonight. As he goes to stand up, though, he hears something distinctly.

“You’re my favourite person.”

Dominic smiles widely as he kisses Matthew’s forehead, eyes now closed and breathing becoming softer. “Sweet dreams,” Dominic whispers.


	5. Chapter 5

Matthew once again is waiting on the pavement outside his block of flats. It’s a Saturday, and he woke up after a (much deserved) lie in to a dull throb in his shoulder and a note on his bedside table.

> _Call me when you wake up, Sleeping Beauty_   
>  _I have a bottle of champers with your name on it_   
>  _D x_

Dominic had explained on the phone how Matthew had been so out of it on the pain medicine that he’d simply put his employee to bed and let him sleep. And Matthew couldn’t really say no to champagne, so he finds himself waiting to be picked up by Dominic himself, as he’s been informed.

He presumes the bright yellow Lambo roaring down the street towards him might be his ride.

Sure enough, Dominic is grinning through the window as he pulls up at the side of the street. “Hey,” he calls, and Matthew gingerly tries the door handle, yelping a little when the door opens upwards instead of outwards as he was expecting. He clambers in awkwardly, reaching and just about grabbing the door handle and shutting it. He turns to smile at Dominic, who looks so fresh faced that you would never guess he’d been fighting crime all night.

“Afternoon,” Matthew says, and they both share a quiet laugh. Matthew buckles himself in and Dominic pulls away from the curb, the car purring quietly. “This is a beauty,” Matthew says, admiring the interior of the car. Dominic smiles, eyes on the road.

“Yeah. Gift from Mum from when I got back from the island,” he says dismissively.

“You don’t sound too enthusiastic about being given a supercar,” Matthew jokes. Dominic shrugs his left shoulder.

“If she knew me at all, she would’ve gotten me a vintage car. Loved them since I was a little boy. I think she just wanted some good press.”

“Ah,” Matthew says, and they both fall silent for several seconds. He takes his glasses off to clean them against the bottom of his t-shirt. “Trust me to make the conversation awkward,” he drawls in a self-mocking way, and when Dominic laughs he’s quick to smile, knowing he’s off the hook.

“It honestly is one of those, _it’s not you it’s me situations_ ,” Dominic says, looking over to Matthew once they pull up at a red light. “You know, you look really handsome without your glasses. I noticed last night.”

Matthew blushes, but the smile fades quickly. “Oh God, I was a mess on those painkillers wasn’t I?” he groans, Dominic sniggering.

“Yeah. A cute mess though,” Dominic says as Matthew puts his glasses back on, now dust free. The engine roars for a few seconds as Dominic pulls onto a fast road leading out of the centre of the city. “And yeah, I know we need to talk about the kiss,” Dominic says, and Matthew tries his hardest to decipher any kind of indications from the tone of Dominic’s voice. “But first, champagne. You saved a lot of people’s lives last night, Matt. You know they mentioned you on the news?”

Matthew hadn’t bothered putting the radio on that morning. “They did?” he asks, forgetting all about the conversation to come.

Dominic smiles at him, and Matthew dares to believe it’s tinged with pride. “Yeah. They mentioned me and Inferno, and I might’ve tipped them off that the kidnapped citizen defused the bomb. I mean, the police know it’s you but they’ll only release your name to the press if you want them to.”

Matthew smiles. “Thanks for the tip off,” he says, “if I ever get pulled over for speeding, the whole _defused a bomb_ thing might come in handy.”

Dominic laughs loudly as they turn off the road onto a gravel track through thick forest. Finally, they emerge into a clearing where one of the biggest manor houses Matthew has ever seen sits. “Christ,” he says, “it doesn’t even look this big on the telly.”

Sniggering, Dominic drives to the top of the turning ring, pulling up right outside the front door. “Mum and Jacques have gone away for the weekend, and Thea’s having a day shopping with her girlfriends. We’ve got the place to ourselves,” he says as he leads Matthew into an entrance hall that is probably bigger than his entire flat. “Not that it really matters, when the house is this big anyway.” Dominic toes his shoes off by the door and Matthew follows suit.

Matthew giggles but the sound is affected by nerves, and Dominic doesn’t fail to notice. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Matthew breathes with a grin. “Just, you know. Feeling entirely out of my depth.”

Dominic places a hand in the small of Matthew’s back with a warm smile, guiding him through to the sitting room, all decorated in various shades of cream. “Take a seat,” Dominic says as he gestures to a sofa, Matthew entirely too focused on the feel of Dominic’s fingertips through his t-shirt. “I’m gonna go grab the champers.”

Matthew sits down primly on the edge of the sofa, drumming his fingers against his jean-clad thighs. Dominic must’ve meant something with the kiss, surely. You don’t just grab someone and kiss them when they’ve done something good. Well, Matthew decides he would probably do it to Dominic, as he hears a champagne cork pop in the other room. Yeah, he would. But then again, he’d had a major crush on Dominic for the last five weeks, and a lingering one ever since he saw the man in the lobby of the building one morning, freshly returned from the island.

Yeah, he’d kiss him if he could.

He groans internally. _Well done, Matthew. He invited you into his home and all you’re doing is thinking about kissing him. He just wants to celebrate!_

Hopefully with kissing.

“Matt?”

Matthew jumps, putting a hand to his heart. “You scared me,” he laughs as he turns towards Dominic, who holds a bottle of uncorked champagne in one hand and a bucket of ice in the other. He plonks the bucket down on the coffee table, some expensive wood or the other, and buries the champagne in it.

“Sorry,” Dominic laughs, not sounding sorry at all. He crosses the room to a glass cabinet, pulling down two fancy champagne flutes from the top shelf. Matthew hopes it’s not crystal, knowing his luck. “I’m kind of used to creeping around silently,” he says, placing the glasses on the table and pouring the champagne between them, setting the bottle back in the bucket with a crunch.

“No shit,” Matthew laughs under his breath. “Thank you,” he says as Dominic hands him one of the glasses, the blond sitting at his side on the sofa, thighs not quite touching but almost. “So...” Matthew says, meeting Dominic’s eyes with a smile. “To success?”

“To us,” Dominic adds.

“I’ll drink to that,” Matthew says, clinking his glass against Dominic’s. They drink to success and to them, and Matthew feels the alcohol blossom in his chest just as quickly as the thought of Dominic does. Dominic sits back into the sofa cushions with a smile on his face, Matthew following suit.

“I’m so glad I got to you in time,” Dominic says, turning to look at Matthew when he doesn’t reply. “I mean, I’ve made mistakes. A few months ago I didn’t catch those guys at the bank--”

“The explosion they said was caused by a gas leak?” Matthew asks.

Dominic nods, sipping his champagne. “That’s the one. Killed a security guard, too. I mean...” Dominic pauses, watching the bubbles rise in his glass. “I’m still frustrated that I didn’t save him, but... if I hadn’t saved you...”

Dominic looks at Matthew and his eyes say it all. Matthew takes another gulp of champagne, putting his now empty flute back down on the table, sitting on the edge of the sofa so he could look at Dominic properly. “Do you mean... the kiss...”

Dominic sits up, putting his glass back on the table too, position now mirroring Matthew’s. Gently, he places his hand on Matthew’s knee, and Matthew gasps quietly. Dominic smiles at the sound. “I was just so happy that you were _alive_ ,” Dominic begins, and Matthew feels the corners of his mouth twitching upward. “I didn’t quite know how else to express it.”

“I think you expressed it clearly enough,” Matthew quips with the beginnings of a smirk, and Dominic laughs, tightening his grip on Matthew’s skinny knee.

“Stop, I’m trying to be serious,” he says, but the smile remains on his lips. Matthew pushes his glasses up nervously, touching his nose before letting his hand fall back down into his lap.

“Sorry. I get sarcastic when I’m nervous,” Matthew admits, looking shyly up at Dominic. Dominic makes a quiet “aw” sound.

“I...” Dominic starts, moving his gaze from his hand on Matthew’s knee to meet Matthew’s eyes. “I kissed you because I wanted to kiss you, and if you’ll let me kiss you again then that would be great,” he says in one rushed breath. “There. I said it.”

Matthew blinks, processing the information. “I can’t believe _the_ Dominic Howard just said he wants to kiss me,” he laughs, and then he receives a second surprise: Dominic blushes.

Looking down, Dominic smiles as his cheeks grow redder. “Can’t believe that my crush just laughed at me wanting to kiss him,” he mumbles, and Matthew pales, immediately putting his hand on top of Dominic’s and squeezing.

“No! Dom, no, oh God I didn’t mean it like that, it wasn’t a rejection,” Matthew blurts. “I just... I mean, bloody hell you are _miles_ out of my league. Like, thousands. Millions.”

Dominic laughs disbelievingly. “Don’t you get it, Matt? I like you. I like your self-depreciating humour, even though most of it is wildly misplaced. I like your dumb jokes, the way you fluff up your words--”

“Really convincing me there,” Matthew quips before he even realises he’s done it. Dominic gives him a look. “But you’re a _superhero_ , for Christ’s sake.”

“Don’t push it,” Dominic laughs.

“No, but seriously. You’re mega rich, ridiculously handsome, and _not gay?!_ ” Matthew covers his mouth with his hand as soon as he’s said it, but Dominic simply shrugs a shoulder.

“Five years on an island will teach you more about who you want to be spending your time with, than five years of actually spending time with people,” Dominic says, and Matthew simply nods in agreement. “It’s about their personality, and yours is stunning. Looks help too, of course,” he laughs, shifting closer on the sofa. “And you need to look in a mirror, Matt.”

“Is there something on my face?” he asks quietly, but they both know what Dominic meant. Their hands entwined on Matthew’s knee, they share a comfortable silence for a few moments, studying each other’s faces, trying to read each other’s minds.

“So, now that we’re done stroking each other’s egos,” Dominic begins quietly, the room having rushed up to close in around them, an intimate bubble between the two in the middle of the huge house. “I want to know where you stand.”

Matthew giggles, butterflies in his stomach only getting stronger with that question. “There I was thinking I was being blatantly obvious,” he laughs, Dominic continuing to smile at him. He takes a deep breath.

“Jesus Dom, just kiss me already.”

Dominic wastes no time. Their lips touch and Matthew sighs happily as his eyes fall shut, Dominic smiling at the sound. Their hands move, Matthew reaching for Dominic’s waist as the blond leaves one on Matthew’s knee and cups his face with the other. Matthew’s fingers grip Dominic’s sides as their mouths soon open, tongues touching and sending a shiver down Matthew’s spine.

Breaking away, Dominic kisses along Matthew’s jaw to just under his ear, where Matthew lets out a breathy moan. Dominic pulls back to look up at him.

“Weak spot,” Matthew squeaks, and almost wishes he hadn’t as Dominic grins, diving back to that spot again. He nips gently at the skin there and Matthew groans once more, this time audibly. Dominic hums in appreciation, hands moving up Matthew’s back to lace through his hair as their mouths meet once more. What had been a chaste kiss becomes much more desperate, Matthew giving as good as he gets, even though the thrill of Dominic dominating him sends butterflies through his stomach and makes his cock twitch.

Matthew could say that he isn’t being affected by the sudden attention he’s receiving, but he’d be lying. He’s only human after all, and a human who hasn’t had sexual contact in months, at that. Dominic tugs on his hair, leaving Matthew panting as he kisses down the front of Matthew’s throat before shifting his position, guiding Matthew to lie down on the sofa. Automatically, Matthew parts his legs so that Dominic can lie in between them, their faces inches apart as they catch their breath.

“Hi,” Matthew says, and Dominic simply grins in reply, He shifts and Matthew doesn’t need to be worried about being too eager, if the erection pressing against his stomach is anything to go by. “Oh,” he says, eyes flicking down then up again. Dominic smirks, shrugging a shoulder even as he held himself up over Matthew.

“It’s been a while,” Dominic says, ducking to kiss Matthew’s jaw again. Matthew breathes a laugh.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t had sex since being back in Starling City,” Matthew says quietly, Dominic continuing to kiss his neck without replying. “Dom?” When he still receives no reply, he pushes against Dominic’s shoulders, forcing Dominic back into a sitting position, Matthew kneeling on the sofa next to him with his eyebrows raised.

“Okay, so I said a while, but... maybe a long while?” Dominic offers with a sheepish smile. Matthew smirks, climbing back into Dominic’s lap again and kissing him slowly. He teases Dominic, pulling back every now and then as Dominic reaches forward to deepen the kiss.

“That’s truly tragic,” Matthew says in a deep tone, Dominic’s hands on his hips as Matthew shifts. Dominic’s hips buck slightly beneath him, Matthew perfectly aware of the friction he’s creating between them. “Absolutely barbaric,” he murmurs, planting slow, delicate kisses along Dominic’s jaw, to just below his ear. “I think we’ll have to fix that,” he whispers, and Dominic groans loudly, quickly taking Matthew’s head between his hands and kissing him hard, tired of being teased.

“You are full of surprises,” Dominic says, voice low and gravelly. Matthew’s toes curl in his socks, purposefully shifting so their erections brush through their jeans. Dominic tips his head back and moans before looking Matthew straight in the eyes. “You being an absolute tease in the bedroom is just one of them.”

“There’s a flaw in your logic,” Matthew says, brushing Dominic’s nose with his own. “We’re not in a bedroom.”

“Let’s change that,” Dominic says. Matthew grins as he stands up from Dominic’s lap. Dominic pushes himself off the sofa, taking Matthew’s hand and snatching the bottle of champagne from the bucket, almost as an afterthought. He leads them back into the hallway at a pace that nearly has Matthew jogging, heading up one of the two grand staircases.

“Y’know,” Matthew says as they start up the stairs. “If it’s any consolation, it’s been a while for me too.” Dominic squeezes his hand as he pulls them in through a door into his bedroom.

“At least you know what you’re doing, I’m just going on late night Google searches,” Dominic jokes as he sets the champagne down on the closest surface, turning to kiss Matthew slowly. “I mean, from that little show downstairs, I guess you’ve been with guys before, right? You seem good at this.”

“Yeah I have, girls have never been my thing,” Matthew says, leaning his forehead against Dominic’s as he teases him with near-kisses. “Only a few flings though, never anything serious,” he says, Dominic catching one of the kisses and Matthew indulging him for a moment before breaking away again. “Not saying that I wouldn’t want anything serious. I mean... I... We probably shouldn’t talk about this with your dick pressing up against me, it’s really distracting.”

Dominic leans back a little to laugh, before kissing Matthew again. “How poetic."

“I try my hardest,” Matthew murmurs. Dominic’s fingers are toying with the hem of Matthew’s t-shirt, and he raises his good arm entirely in the air, getting his injured shoulder half way there before wincing and stepping away from Dominic, getting tangled up in his t-shirt. “Help,” he mumbles with a pout, Dominic pecking his lips before helping him out of his t-shirt. Topless, Matthew stands still as Dominic brushes one finger close to Matthew’s stab wound, a bandage now over stitches still fresh from the night before.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be doing any physical activity,” Dominic says, looking up at Matthew. Matthew simply reaches for Dominic’s t-shirt in return.

“Good thing I’ll be mostly lying on my back then.”

“Oh,” Dominic says, a smile slowly spreading across his face as he cottons on. Matthew pulls the t-shirt up, letting Dominic take it off himself. As Dominic’s arms fall back to his sides, Matthew immediately reaches out to touch his tattooed torso.

“Christ,” he breathes, looking excitedly between Dominic’s eyes and muscled chest. Matthew giggles. “This is like opening presents on Christmas morning.”

“You are beyond words,” Dominic says with a roll of his eyes, hands sliding into Matthew’s hair as he kisses him once more, both of them moaning with want as their tongues play. Matthew breaks away quickly, splaying his fingers across the tattoos on Dominic’s pecs, symbols with meanings he doesn’t quite understand. One finger traces a long scar, and Dominic shivers.

“That tickles,” Dominic admits, and Matthew does it again, Dominic seizing his wrists and pinning them to his sides, kissing him urgently. “Matthew,” he moans into the kiss, Matthew wriggling his hands free from Dominic’s grip to reach for Dominic’s belt buckle. HIs fingers purposefully brush the bulge in his jeans and Dominic groans.

“I really won’t last that long if you keep teasing me like that.”

Matthew unzips Dominic, immediately putting his hand inside Dominic’s boxers and taking him in hand. “Oh God,” Matthew says as he feels the size of him, biting his lip as he looks up at Dominic. “Is there any part of your body that isn’t physically perfect?”

Dominic presses a kiss to the corner of Matthew’s mouth, eyes shut, Matthew smiling to himself knowing that Dominic had twitched in his hand with the compliment. He grips him, and Dominic lets out a breathy whine, turning his head to kiss Matthew deeply, and lazily. Dominic reaches for the buckle of Matthew’s jeans, undoing the fastenings and letting his trousers fall to the floor with a thump. Dominic bends a little to grip the back of Matthew’s thighs, picking him up.

Matthew squeaks, instantly wrapping his legs around Dominic’s waist and moaning as their cocks brush with only the fabric of their boxers separating them. Dominic walks forward, Matthew’s back coming into contact with the wall and allowing Dominic to roll his hips upwards, watching the brunet throw his head back and moan deeply.

“Dom I need you inside me like, right now,” he says as he looks up to the ceiling, Dominic driving his hips upwards harshly, forcing Matthew to look down at him with heavy eyelids. Dominic grins, kissing him immediately, all tongues and fast breathing. He lifts Matthew again, carefully making his way over to the bed where he lays Matthew down carefully, naked save for his socks and boxers. As Dominic stands back to peel off his jeans, Matthew rids himself of those final pieces of clothing, spread out on the huge bed before Dominic’s hungry eyes.

“Eager much?” Dominic asks in a low tone. Matthew shuffles back on the bed before taking his cock in hand, slowly pumping himself whilst maintaining eye contact. Torn between wanting to fuck Matthew right that moment and being utterly mesmerised, Dominic remains stood at the end of the bed, pausing before pushing his boxers to the floor too.

Matthew bites his lip at the sight of Dominic’s cock, thick and hard, and that does it for the blond. He crawls up the bed, laying down the full length of Matthew’s body, the brunet winding his fingers through his hair and pulling him into a kiss. Dominic breaks it quickly, plucking Matthew’s glasses from his face and putting them on his bedside table, before rummaging in the drawer.

“Condoms _and_ lube?” Matthew asks with a smirk as the items come into his eyesight. “Have you been anticipating this?”

Dominic sets the condoms down next to Matthew’s head, pecking his lips before sitting up to kneel between Matthew’s spread legs. “Condoms are a necessity for any man, and my last pack were out of date, unsurprisingly,” Dominic explains, causing Matthew’s stomach to bounce a little as he laughs, hand sneaking towards his cock again. Dominic bats it away as he squirts lube onto his fingers. “And the lube, well...” he drawls, looking up at Matthew through his eyelashes. “Let’s just say I started experimenting in this past month or so.”

“Experimenting?” Matthew asks in a high breathy voice as Dominic’s finger circles his entrance. He pushes it in, watching Matthew’s facial features react to the intrusion.

“Mmmm, yeah,” Dominic says, curling his finger a little and watching Matthew squirm. “I would lie down on this very bed and touch myself, like I’m touching you,” he murmurs in a low voice, adding a second finger and watching Matthew tip his head back, limbs constantly moving on the bed.

“Really,” Matthew breathes, voice catching in his throat as he moans loudly. “There, Dom, please, _again_ ,” he begs, Dominic adding a third finger briefly and just brushing that same spot before withdrawing all three. Matthew whines, and Dominic smirks at the pout on his lips.

“Don’t pout, you get something better next,” Dominic says, rolling a condom onto his erection, before adding extra lube. Matthew laughs hoarsely.

“You’re so vain,” he says with a small smile.

“I’m a fucking superhero, what did you expect?” Dominic asks with a grin. Matthew laughs loudly as Dominic shuffles forward, placing the head of his cock against Matthew’s entrance.

“Oh Christ,” Matthew says, shutting his eyes and swallowing as he lets his head fall back onto the mattress.

“Ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Matthew replies.

Dominic sinks forward, earning himself a choked moan from Matthew, whose eyes fly open to search out Dominic’s. Biting his lip and groaning in pleasure, Dominic moves forward until he fills Matthew entirely, the man beneath him reaching up to grip his biceps. His legs wrap around Dominic’s waist and his feet hook together in the small of his back.

“Fuck me Dom, fuck me, _please_ ,” Matthew begs, running his hands up and down Dominic’s muscled arms as he begins to shallowly thrust in and out of him. “More, fuck--”

“I thought you said you didn’t normally swear?” Dominic breathes, leaning down to kiss Matthew as his hips continue to move. Matthew gasps as he breaks the kiss, sweat already beginning to bead on his forehead.

“Yeah, because _normally_ your cock isn’t _Christ right there_!” Matthew shouts, digging his nails into the muscle of Dominic’s shoulders. “There again, oh God.”

Dominic’s thrusts are long and deep now, Matthew raising his hips to meet every single one, mouth hanging open as Dominic continues to drive into the one spot that makes him see stars. Dominic begins to speed up, shifting to kneel and lift Matthew’s hips easily off the bed, each thrust going deeper than before.

“Dom, _Dominic_ ,” Matthew moans, dragging the word out so long it almost sounds as if he’s singing it. Dominic’s fingers grip Matthew’s hips tighter, pressing into the skin hard enough that he would leave bruises. Matthew reaches for his cock. “I’m gonna come, I’m gonna--”

Dominic’s orgasm hits first though as he pumps into Matthew in an erratic rhythm, whispering Matthew’s name over and over. Seeing Dominic reach orgasm finishes Matthew off, coming up his stomach and chest with a tight grip on his dick.

Dominic pulls out, collapsing on the bed next to Matthew, muscled chest moving up and down as he catches his breath. Matthew pants next to him, much more noisily than the blond.

“Wow,” Dominic says to the ceiling with a grin on his face, and Matthew laughs. “That was...”

“Yeah,” Matthew says, swallowing then nodding. Dominic turns to him and Matthew does the same, both of them smiling at each other.

“You good?” Dominic asks.

Matthew giggles. “Good is the biggest understatement of the century, but yeah, I’m _good_ ,” Matthew says, licking his lips. “You?”

“I’m alright,” Dominic says with a smirk, reaching out for Matthew’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “You can see without your glasses, right?”

Matthew nods. “Not long distance, though.”

Dominic squeezes his hand. “I’m not going anywhere.”

They allow a few seconds of comfortable silence to pass between them, save for their hearts thudding in their chests.

“So what now?” Matthew eventually asks. Dominic rolls onto his side, propping himself up on his elbow.

“Bit of champagne, another round if you’re interested?” Dominic suggests hopefully. Matthew rolls his eyes.

“No, I mean...”

Dominic reaches for Matthew’s hand again, linking their fingers together. “I know, I know,” he says. “I don’t know, continue fighting crime together and being awesome, I guess?” Dominic says, shrugging the shoulder that was in the air.

“As long as I don’t get kidnapped again... or attacked _again_... how did you manage to find me both those times, anyway?” Matthew asks, raising his eyebrows. Dominic looks down to their joined hands.

“Don’t think I’m creepy or anything, but--”

“Literally the worst time to put out a disclaimer like that, after some mind-blowing sex,” Matthew chips in, Dominic laughing and actually blushing. Matthew’s eyebrows raise again. “Dom?”

“I might’ve put a little, teeny tracker on your phone. Just so, y’know, if anything did happen, I could be there. Turns out it came in handy,” he explains, unable to meet Matthew’s eyes.

“Twice,” Matthew says, Dominic looking up as he hears the smile in his voice. “That’s kind of sweet, actually.”

“Yeah?” Dominic asks, a smile on his own face now.

“Yeah,” Matthew says, shuffling closer for a kiss, his own come still drying on his chest. “Your lips taste like champagne,” he giggles into the kiss.

Dominic pulls back, smirking. “Want to know what else tastes like champagne?”

“Your cock?” Matthew asks without missing a beat. Dominic blinks before he laughs. “What? What did I say?”

Dominic kisses him hard, gently pushing Matthew back down onto the mattress. “I was going to say more champagne, actually,” he murmurs as he kisses along Matthew’s jaw, his lips catching on the stubble there.

“Oh, yeah, I totally knew that,” Matthew says with a gasp as Dominic kisses down his neck. He hears Dominic giggle from near his chest.

“You’re still just as much of a dork as when I first met you,” Dominic says, kissing Matthew’s belly button and making him squirm a little on the bed.

“I’m taking that as a compliment,” Matthew says defiantly, toes curling as he realises just where Dominic is headed.

“Good,” Dominic says with a wicked grin. “You should take this as a compliment, too.”

“ _Oh_!”


End file.
